The Arrival of Mikuru Asahina
by GuavaJam
Summary: Take a stroll down the memory lane. Just a fun read, no one is in danger for once, nothing stressful and nothing terrible is going to happen. 4 chapters in total.
1. Chapter 1

(This story happened between The Reflection of HS and The Replacement of YN, but there is no need to read the Reflection beforehand)

One sunny Friday morning I was walking to school minding my own business when some guy on a bike apparently threw something furry into my face. I thought it was a dead furry animal and I was in panic mode for 10 long seconds after I threw it on to the ground. By the time my panic was replaced by anger, the guy on the bike was long gone. A few girls on the street were giggling at my expense on what appeared to be a silly prank. I went over and checked on the object, which appeared to be a wig. It had long black hair that went past my shoulders and there's also a pair of sunglasses taped inside, which originally I thought were bones of the animal. Why would anybody throw them away? The wig was clean and the sunglasses looked pretty trendy. There were no trash cans around me and since I picked it up, I could not just toss it back to the ground as that would be me littering. Besides, for the humiliation I suffered I felt I was entitled to keeping them. Throwing them away seemed like a waste. At least I should put them on to surprise the SOS brigade members - I could pretend to be a rock star.

School couldn't be over soon enough and it's showtime. Haruhi said she would be late. I arrived at the door to the literary club room, put on the wig and the sunglasses then I knocked on the door. The warm and familiar voice of Ms Asahina greeted me.

I opened the door, and proudly announced, 'Holla everybody.' I struck a sexy pose, or, what I thought was a sexy pose, pretending I was strumming an invisible electric guitar.

Good, Nagato and Ms Asahina were there. Koizumi was there too, but I did not care about if he's or not. Nagato looked at me, did not give it a second thought and went back to her books. She probably analyzed my face, and concluded, 'Male subject, known as Kyon. In disguise. Danger level - lower than usual.' Ms Asahina and Koizumi both had a stunned look on them. Then they broke into laughter. Then they went back to looking stunned. That was not the responses I was expecting... wait, I got so embarrassed I forgot what I was expecting.

'Uh, what kind of response is that?' I asked.

Koizumi said, 'If you are trying to look ridiculous, give us a good laugh, then congratulations, you succeed spectacularly.'

'Nobody asked for your opinion.' That was not true, I did ask for it.

Was Ms Asahina going to say something to make me feel better? I could count on Ms Asahina appreciating my effort, right? That's right, I wanted to woo Ms Asahina and perhaps Nagato, and obviously, Nagato was not impressed. 0-1.

Ms Asahina walked over to me and looked at me closer. Oooh, that's a bit too close now I could smell a faint scent of flower fragrance that could weaken any normal man's knees, and I did not mind it at all.

I awkwardly said, 'Uh, Ms Asahina, it's me, Kyon?'

Ms Asahina still looked kind of confused with her cute round eyes. She said, 'Oh, sorry about that Kyon, you looked like someone I met before…'

When you heard a time traveler talking about meeting someone before, it was never clear whether the meeting happened in the past relative to the current time, or the future. One thing was clear, like Koizumi had pointed out, I failed spectacularly. I did not look cool and the girls were not impressed. 0-2. I took the wig and the sunglasses off and I was ready to punish them for the further humiliation by throwing them into the - hold on, we did not even have a trash bin in this room? Reluctantly I put them back into my backpack. Knowing how these girls felt assured me that Haruhi would have felt the same, and I should never show my face in front of her. She would probably laugh her butt off and make worse comments than Koizumi.

'Stop goofing around. You look stupid.' I could hear her say something like that in my head. That's an automatic swing-and-a-miss, 0-3, I was struck out, shamed.

Haruhi came in shortly and the rest of the time in the club room was fairly uneventful. Well, she did say a bunch of stuff, but this was not a story about her so moving along. She left early, followed by Nagato.

As Koizumi was leaving the room he made a comment, 'See you later, stranger.' Was it a jab, or was it supposed to mean anything?

I said to Ms Asahina, 'Ms Asahina, I shall leave now so you can change. See you Monday.''

'Kyon, actually, may I speak with you?'

'Certainly. What about?'

'It's about the look you had earlier.'

'Oh… was it cool?' Why did I still have my hopes up?

'It looked ridiculous, just as Koizumi said.'

Geez, thanks. I could hear my heart broke in half.

She continued, 'Oh Kyon, you have no idea how glad I am to see you in them though. I remembered when I saw that face before. Only that your voice was different, and it all makes sense now.'

'Could you explain what you just said?'

'I met that version of you about 2 years ago. You were wearing those disguises back then.'

'Oh?' The plot thickened. I did not recall wearing them 2 years ago.

'I just communicated with my superiors and they had confirmed it immediately. Your presence at that time plane was required.'

'It sounds like you want me to travel back in time again. What am I, uh, was, no, will I be... supposed to do there?'

'I will tell you when we get there. Also, I hope you don't mind but... we will be staying overnight.'

Staying overnight at some place with Ms Asahina? Sounded like a fantasy of a pervert. Shut up, Kyon's brain. Wait, I already spent 3 years in a room with her before. Oh, shut up.

'Couldn't you just time-jump to the next day or something?'

'That is possible, but I was informed to just do one jump back. Are you uncomfortable with…'

'No no, I'm absolutely comfortable with spending the night with you... uh, it comes out wrong, I don't mean... oh please - forget what I just said please?'

I was told I should go home and put on some casual clothes that I rarely wore, and brought along my uniform, the wig and the sunglasses. Ms Asahina came to my house to fetch me, and my jaw dropped to see her hair cut short and was dyed black… she was also wearing a pair of nerdy glasses.

'What happened to your hair?' I couldn't help it.

'Kyon, don't worry. I am also going to be in disguise. I have a device that could change my hair color back and grow my hair in no time.' She said it in a voice different from her usual voice.

'What happened to your voice?' I couldn't help it.

'Oh, I'm wearing a device that changes the voice. I have one for you. This is so that people we encounter cannot easily recognize who we are by our voices.' She put a necklace around my neck, and said, 'Think of the voice you want to sound like.'

I thought of a while and then said, 'Luke, I'm your father.' It was a deep and manly voice. 'That sounds pretty cool. What do you think?'

Ms Asahina smiled forcefully and said, 'If that's what you prefer…'

She told me there's no need to wear the wig or the sunglasses yet for we would not be meeting anyone right away. Soon after, Ms Asahina used her TPDD thing, and I felt like spinning around in a dryer for several seconds and arrived at a certain time 2 years ago, at the park with the lake near Ms Tsuruya's mansion. It's dark out and the temperature was a little colder than the time plane we came from, so I would imagine it's around March 2 years ago. Ms Asahina told me we needed to hide for a few minutes. I did as I was told for I was still trying to recover from dizziness. I also realized I was such a pushover whenever Ms Asahina made requests. I did not ask her for any details, I just came along. When exactly were we, why were we at this park in the dark, and what exactly were we doing here?

Shortly after a faint light appeared and descended to the platform in the middle of the lake. When the light faded, it revealed to be a girl - it was Ms Asahina, dressed in a cute short dress, carrying a cute rolling luggage. It was like an angel descending from the heaven, traveling in style...

Ms Asahina from my time was excited to see her other self arriving and said to me, 'Kyon, that's me 2 years ago. I just arrived to this time plane by myself. I'm glad you are here to see this with me.'

I said in my deep menacing voice, 'Me too. Ms Asahina. Me too.'

Ms Asahina said, 'Perhaps we should disable our voice change device until we need them.'

I agreed and she showed me how to turn it off.

Ms Asahina (young) was shivering. It was cold out to be in that dress. Not that I was complaining.

Ms Asahina next to me changed from her exciting tone to an embarrassing tone suddenly and said, 'Maybe you should not be seeing the next part…'

Ms Asahina (young) found herself trapped behind the locked fence around the lake. She looked worried. She looked around and around and finally decided she had no other options but to climb the fence - in the dress - which was pretty short.

'Stop looking!' Ms Asahina said to me.

Judging from the sound Ms Asahina (young) made, I figured she was just as embarrassed as the Ms Asahina with me.

I said, 'Should we, perhaps, go and help her?'

'No, because when I first came here, no one helped me at this moment.'

That made sense. I did not know how long it took, but Ms Asahina finally said I could look. When I looked, Ms Asahina (young) was gone but her luggage was left behind the fence.

'Where did she go?' I asked.

Ms Asahina said, 'Don't worry, I knew where she went. Could you do us a favor, please? Could you retrieve the luggage?'

It felt just like one of those times when the adult version of Ms Asahina ordered me around. I supposed the current Ms Asahina was getting a taste of being the boss, and she's going to enjoy giving orders more and more as she grew older.

It was not overly difficult for me to climb over and climb back with the luggage. I couldn't help but notice that the lake was filthy. This would be the lake where Haruhi filmed her infamous movie for the Cultural Festival, and Ms Asahina would sacrifice herself for the sake of Haruhi's art and took a plunge into the lake.

'Ms Asahina, the lake was filthy... I don't remember it was this bad when we did the movie. If you fall into it, it would definitely make you sick... I think everyone will get sick just by being there...'

Ms Asahina had no answer for me regarding the lake; instead she told me it's more important that we caught up with the other Ms Asahina. As suspected, Ms Asahina (young) wandered to the front of Ms Tsuruya's house and Ms Tsuruya just happened to come home. We could faintly hear the conversation from a distance. Ms Asahina filled me in and said, 'Ms Tsuruya asked if I was lost, and I said yes. I said I traveled from far to settle here by myself. Ms Tsuruya gladly invited me into her place for the night. It was a miracle I ran into her.' I thought to myself, of course there was a logical explanation behind this. There was no need for a miracle if the person giving the order already knew the future. We then saw Ms Asahina (young) panicking - she finally realized she forgot her luggage. 'Ms Tsuruya said it's cold out and offered me to go in and she'd send a servant to go retrieve the luggage. The thing was, the servant later said he actually found the luggage at her front gate.'

Some people just had a way to get people to do things and not always had to make it sound like an order. As soon as Ms Asahina finished that sentence I knew what I had to do. Once the ladies went inside the mansion, I pulled the luggage to the front gate, rang the doorbell and ran away as fast as I could. Shortly after a man opened the door, spotted the luggage, and pulled it inside. Mission accomplished.

Ms Asahina said, 'Thank you Kyon. The luggage carried some items that were best not to be left unattended. Also, thanks to you I did not have to explain to Ms Tsuruya why the luggage was behind the fences in the park.'

As if the luggage showing up by itself and ringing the doorbell was not strange. I also wondered what items were in the luggage. Was she referring to futuristic objects, or cute undergarment? Perhaps they were futuristic cute undergarment. If only she said that sooner and I would perhaps take a peek... was it the night of the full moon or what?

Ms Asahina then told me that was it for the day. She told me to follow her so we could have a place to stay for the night. We arrived at the apartment she lived in at our present time. She unlocked the door and we got in. She said the next day young Ms Asahina would be here to rent the apartment, so it was empty that night as it was still vacant. I didn't think I had ever been to her place. She asked that I slept in the living room, and she went into the bedroom. Luckily the place had central heat as the night was pretty cold outside.


	2. Chapter 2

Saturday morning I woke to see Ms Asahina standing near me and we startled each other. How long had she been there? Was she watching me?

Ms Asahina said, 'I'm so sorry Kyon, I don't mean to wake you.' In her hands she's holding a vase with lilies.

'That's alright… Where does that come from?' I pointed at the vase.

She said, 'Last night, I remembered I was looking for a place to live 2 years ago, I came to this place and saw the vase of lilies and, and call it anything you want, but I had a strong feeling this was the place for me. So I went out a moment ago and bought it. Do you like it?' She sounded so cute and so Ms Asahina.

'Yes, I like it.'

She placed the vase on the table, then said, 'Anyways, we'll have to be at the cafe near the train station around noon. Meanwhile, we can stay here till then if you want.'

'I suppose it's not safe for us to go around, and accidentally changing history, right?'

'Actually… we are supposed to be inputting information to ensure the future stays its course. Like the lilies i put on the table here. Therefore, if you see something you want to do or say that does not contradict with the future you know, you are free to get involved. I only know a few key events we have to be part of, but that's not to say you won't find some yourself.'

I was surprised by the freedom I was given. I looked at the lilies, and I recalled reading or hearing from somewhere that time was like a river, and history would normally correct its course. Anything we could do that day to help guide the water to the right direction, making the path a little smoother, was well within the rules of time traveling. Ms Asahina trusted that I would make the right decisions, and I was deeply honored.

'Well, in that case, could we go to the train station and walk around?'

Ms Asahina said with a smile, 'Sure.'

A date with Ms Asahina on a Saturday morning - before Haruhi became the lord of us, and on top of that, we were in disguise. No one's going to interrupt us. It's a dream date!

We put on our disguises, changed our voices, and headed towards the train station. Ms Asahina was carrying a bag that had my uniform in it, which I was not sure why yet. We took a stroll around the park and the shopping area for over an hour, until something caught my eyes as we walked by a bookstore. On the window display, one of the books was called Hyperion. That was the book Nagato lent to me, which had a bookmark that informed me to meet her at the park - later we went to her apartment and she delivered her alien speech. Was I here so I would get it for her? Could the fact that she handed this particular book to me meant it carried a special meaning to Nagato? It seemed logical that the reason the book caught my eyes right there right now, no matter how trivial the matter might be, was that I should just go ahead and get the book. After all, I never gave anything special to Nagato. The guilt of it was enough to make me buy it. I told Ms Asahina I would like to purchase a book, and she followed me into the bookstore and browsed around. I picked up the book and took it to the cash register.

'Good day Sir. Would this be all for you?' The lady behind the cash register asked.

'I think so.' I had my voice changer on. She was a bit startled by my menacing manly voice but tried not to show it on her face that might upset me.

'Is this a gift?' She wanted to keep the conversation going.

'Yes I suppose so.'

'Have you read it before?'

'In fact, yes, I did.'

'So have you read the books that followed?'

'Uh,… how many more are there?'

'There are 3 more. If you are buying this as a gift, I would suggest you get them all, that will make a nice gift.'

She got me there. For Nagato, I would buy the full set even if it had ten books assuming i had that much cash with me.

'Okay, take my money.'

She gladly went and picked out the other books, and as a sign of appreciation, she wanted to give me 4 bookmarks, one for each book. I immediately noticed the bookmark that Nagato wrote on. I smiled, as I was certain I was supposed to buy these books after all. I told the lady 2 bookmarks would be enough, but she insisted I should have more.

'Take this please, this one's a horoscope bookmark and we had a hard time selling it… uh, I mean…'

I saw the bookmark and it hit me as something I should take. I thanked her and I insisted that would be all. She still would not give up and insisted on giving me a small bag of snack which would expire soon. I accepted it not just so she was satisfied, but also I felt like I might need it down the road. I began to feel like I was playing a cheesy adventure game and I would need these odd items for completing my quests.

The books were heavy and I was slightly regretting it, but I had to tell myself it's for Nagato and it's all worth it. I could imagine her smiling back, thanking me - if by smiling it meant not smiling. I did use the word 'imagine'.

Ms Asahina probably knew I was having trouble enjoying our stroll, she suggested we went to the cafe, sat and waited. I agreed. our date was cut short.

We were seated near the back of the room, the second table from the back wall. A couple men were sitting at the last table already.

I was curious and asked, 'So what would we need to do here?'

Ms Asahina replied, 'Ms Tsuruya and the younger version of me would come here for lunch. However, we're not supposed to talk to them.'

'Really? So why are we here?'

'Uh… this was an order from my superior… I thought we're to follow them to school afterwards. Although, I was told to sit at this table specifically.'

'Who are we meeting?'

'I wasn't told…'

'Classified information?'

'No, I really wasn't told.'

It was then Ms Asahina (young) and Tsuruya made their entrance. They sat near the front. If we were not to do anything with them, who were we here for?

The answer soon walked in. A middle-aged women was followed by her daughter and they sat at the table in front of us. They did not sit down facing us, but there's no mistaking who the girl was, with those trademark yellow ribbons on her hair. That was Haruhi Suzumiya, the junior high version. Ms Asahina looked slightly nervous.

The lady, who I would presume was Haruhi's mother, ordered a couple drinks and some sandwiches.

'So, Haruhi,' the lady said, and I had chills down my spine hearing the name, 'How do you like North High?'

They had just visited North High, it seemed.

'It was okay,' Haruhi said with an uninteresting tone.

'Well, Haruhi, you keep saying you want to check it out before deciding, so there you have it. Are you ready to choose which school to go to?'

'I am still not sure, mom.'

'I think you should go to Kouyouen. You will get bored academically at North High in no time.'

Haruhi did not respond.

Their food and drinks came. They ate, and Haruhi's mother commented the sandwich was not good, at which Haruhi responded by saying, 'The sandwich tastes fine, mom.'

I whispered to Ms Asahina, 'What do you think? Should we say something?'

Ms Asahina nodded, 'But may I suggest you use a more charming voice?'

'What's wrong with my authoritative voice?'

'You don't look authoritative.'

Okay, okay… I thought of a new voice. 'There is no spoon.'

I said with a voice, not loud enough to be annoying but clear enough to be heard from where Haruhi sat, 'Hey Yuko, you know what rocks? The North High baseball team, that's what! I heard they're going to win it all this year. They have some talents on their team, don't you think so?'

I winked at Ms Asahina asking her to play along, then I forgot I was wearing the sunglasses, so I quickly pulled them up and winked awkwardly. She got the idea.

'Oh, Ky… Okay… You are right. They are very good.'

'Game on. You know what else? I heard North High is not only great with their sports club. Nearly all their clubs are awesome. Not to mention they have some very interesting people there. There's a rumor that strange things lurk around at every corner there on a daily basis. Guess who are behind them? Aliens, time travelers, espers, sliders... you know most schools have seven wonders - North High has eight!'

Haruhi turned her head and looked at me. Would my disguise disqualify me as a trustworthy person? I probably had to spin it some way when I had a chance.

'Holla,' I waved at her.

'Are you from North High?'

Thinking that it would not be a smart idea to admit I was from North High, for she might try to look me up, I said, 'Me? Oh, no. I wish. I'm from another school from a boring town. Just visiting my grandparents, you know? I totally regret my choice. I am totally bored with my high school life. So… bored... So… insignificant… my grandparents have more exciting lives than me.'

Haruhi's mother turned and gave me a thumb-down look. Sorry, this show was not for you. I thought I would give Haruhi one more push and said, 'I heard this one person, who sent prayers to Orihime and Hikoboshi every year since she's one year old, was in one of the clubs, and her first wish was coming true! She's accepted to Tokyu University! Well, to be precise, her mother made the wish for her actually when she's one...'

Haruhi's eyes glowed with excitement and looked away. I had successfully reinforced her interest to apply to North High. It was quite funny, to think that she would attend North High and join every club searching for excitement because of what I just told her. In a way I felt we were sort of even now.

'And oh, little girl, someone once told me there was definitely some evil spirits at North High. It's not for the faint of heart. Some people wear different hair style with different color each day to ward them off. Far out.'

Ms Asahina was doing a 'cut it' sign. I supposed I should stop - but I couldn't help going one more.

'Be nice to the guy sitting in front of you in class. You never know how special that person can be.'

I agreed I went too far there… that came out sounding totally stupid. Ms Asahina stole my move - she was doing a facepalm.

Haruhi's mother tried to talk some sense back to her girl, 'Haruhi, take your time. Your family supports your decision. You will be great wherever you choose to go.'

'Thanks, mom.'

'Anyways, you sure you will be fine with me leaving you here?'

'Yeah, I'll be fine.' She looked at the time and said, 'Mom, you should leave.'

With that, Haruhi's mother paid for the food and left. Haruhi sat quietly for a few minutes. It seemed like she was about to meet someone else?

Haruhi's finally got bored sitting, turned around and said to me, 'Are you a rock musician?'

'You better believe it.'

'You look pretty cool!'

Wait, Haruhi actually did not think I looked ridiculous?

'Uh, thanks.'

'What instruments do you play?'

'What else, the electric guitar, of course.' I did my invisible guitar strumming move.

'Awesome.'

'Come to think of it, you should check out the all-girl band Enoz in North High. God knows, they are FAR OUT.'

'How do you know so much about North High? I hardly hear anything that exciting about the school from anyone I spoke to today.' She turned to Ms Asahina and said, 'And who are you, the quiet one?'

Uh oh.

'I… Mi…'.

For some reason I only just realized that Ms Asahina did not turn on her voice change device. I whispered to her, 'Ms Asa - Yuko - your voice!'

She covered her mouth so fast she slapped it by accident. Ouch.

'Hello, Ms Suzumiya,' someone was calling her. Who would have thought, our savior could be him.

'Thank you for meeting me today!' It was Taniguchi, the younger version. He put his bag on the chair next to him and sat down. I could tell there's a camera in it.

Haruhi slurped up the last of her drink, and said, 'Let's call it a day.' Then she began to leave.

Taniguchi was confused, 'But I just got here.' He followed her to the front door.

Haruhi turned around and told him, 'I had no time for normal human beings!' She briefly looked at the young Ms Asahina and Ms Tsuruya, then stomped off.

Poor Taniguchi, even though I always thought of him as a loser, that had to be the worst date I had ever witnessed, and to think I could partially be blamed...

He stood there for a moment, then turned around for his bag. He tried to sound cool and hummed, "I for-for-forget my bag….' He grabbed the bag, then left. Priceless.

Ms Asahina said, 'Oh gosh, Kyon, do you think Ms Suzumiya recognized me?'

I laughed and said, 'Don't worry. In the world we live in, people of the same sex are recognized by their hair color, hair style, eye color and their clothes. The faces are 90% interchangeable… unless you are Kunikida, who has a generic face of a girl... good thing he's wearing male clothes or I would have mistaken him as Nagato's sister.'

Ms Asahina felt assured, and said, 'Kyon, please remember not to wear that wig and sunglasses in our present time in front of Ms Suzumiya.'

'Thanks for the reminder. We're pretty lucky she didn't see me in them yesterday - uh, the day in our time we came from.'

'Yes. Anyways, I now have to leave you alone for about 5 minutes. I will be back for you. Okay?'

I said yes and I did not ask for details. I supposed I could keep watching the young Ms Asahina and Ms Tsuruya from far, as they struck up a long friendship. However, if I thought the crazy encounter at the cafe was over, I was badly mistaken. A group of 6 people just walked in and joined the 2 behind our table.

'What took you so long?' One of them said impatiently.

'Especially you, Itsuki, you called this meeting.' Another person said.

I turned around, and there he was, a younger version of Koizumi with his trademark smiling face.


	3. Chapter 3

I turned around and there was the younger version of Koizumi with his smiling face, standing there with the other 5 who just came in with him.

He said, 'I'm sorry about that, but in case you didn't note, that someone was in here earlier. We decided to stay outside until she left.'

'You are worrying about her sensing our accumulative ESP awesomeness? Hahaha.'

Everyone sat down. Koizumi was in the chair directly behind me.

I turned around for a quick look and was able to recognize Mr Arakawa and Ms Mori among the 6 that just came in. It's a bit odd to see them in casual clothes rather than the butler and the maid clothing. The two that were here early were the Tamaru brothers, Keiichi and Yutaka.

There's no way I was here with them here being a coincidence. It implied I was meant to say and act in some way to shape the future.

The newcomers each ordered something and after a short silence, a voice which I believed was Keiichi said, 'Thank you everyone for joining us today. As you may know, Mr. Ono, our admirable co-leader, had a little accident, and he was flown to Canada to be cared for. Before he left, he informed some of us that he wanted to retire from his position. Therefore, I will like to motion electing a new leader.'

'Hang on,' said a woman's voice. Since there's only one woman in the group, it had to be Ms Mori. 'Itsuki is young, but he has been a capable co-leader. It has always been Mr Ono's wish to assist Itsuki until he's ready to take over full leadership for the H-group -'

"Haha!' I accidentally laughed out loud.

Silence. I turned around and they were all looking at me.

'Sorry about that… did I hear someone said the H-group? You folks should really rename your group. Your group name sounds like some Korean pop music group… or maybe a bunch nerdy folks that are into H-games.' Dead silence.

'Sorry.' I turned away. More silence followed.

Ms Mori continued, 'Anyways, I think Itsuki is ready to lead on his own now, and he's the logical choice since he has been the co-leader.'

The members were talking softly to each other for a while, then the older Tamaru continued, 'Thank you Ms Mori for your opinion, but I think I speak for those of us here who do not agree to Mr Ono's choice for having Koizumi as our co-leader in the first place. Now Mr Ono is gone, we should do this democratically.'

No one argued his point.

Keniichi continued, 'I would like to nominate Mr Arakawa. He's the oldest and wisest in our group.'

I didn't know if Mr Arakawa were the wisest, but he surely looked the oldest. There seemed to be no resistance to the suggestion.

Silence. Something's not right here... Why was Koizumi not standing his ground and pushing himself as the leader? No disrespect to Mr Arakawa, this was not about him, and it was not time for me to worry about getting into trouble. I should say something.

'Pardon me for saying this, but wouldn't you need someone who looked the role of a leader? Mr Mustache Man looked more like a butler... perhaps a driver... than a leader… Just saying….'

I guessed I really did it… I saw the expressions of some of them - they suddenly saw a man with more resemblance to a butler than a leader.

Keiichi said, 'Should we continue the meeting somewhere else so we would not be interrupted? This boy clearly had no clue how important our jobs were.'

'Like, saving the world?'

'...Why, yes, saving the world!' Yutaka had to calm his brother down.

I should probably speak only as necessary. I said, 'Sorry everyone. It's the coffee talking. Great coffee here... I can write light novels day and night in here with the stimulants offered here...'

Koizumi said, 'Let's continue. Most restaurants are packed at this hour. Most of us have to be somewhere after this. I think this gentleman is nosy, but he's harmless.'

Mr Arakawa said, 'Thank you Keiichi for the nomination, but I personally don't think I am up to the task. While I may fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee when I'm "in there", I am an old man after all and managing you lot of young people will just be too tiresome for me.'

Keiichi said, 'Fine then. In that case I would nominate myself as a candidate for your consideration. As you may know, I recently just inherited a large sum of money from my great-aunt. Unlike my brother, who gambled and spent all his share on women away already, I think I have the finance position to lead and contribute more.'

Ms Mori said, 'Excuse me Mr Tamaru, but your track record on the front line has been weak if I may say so. Most of the time you are a no-show, and when you do show, you usually roll up in a corner with stomach cramps.'

'Hahahaha!' Oh my, why was I doing that? All eyes were on me, again.

'Excuse me, I meant no harm. I am merely giving an outsider opinion which might be helpful to you… just saying. Uh, Mr Rich Man, if I were you, I would buy a mansion on a remote island or something, do something the organization will appreciate you for. Like hosting a get-together to relax, maybe even star in your own murder mystery. Your brother sounds like the perfect suspect with a motive.'

They were dumbfounded on the far fetched stuff I just said. Still, I could tell the older Mr Tamaru liked my suggestion. By living far far away from the rest of the members, he had an excuse to be away from what he obviously did not enjoy - fighting giants in closed space.

Koizumi turned and said to me, 'Well, thank you for your outsider opinion but I would appreciate you not offering any more of them.'

'What, little boy does not know how to handle constructive criticisms? I'm just showing you the ropes.' (Funny - I was using his own words when we first met)

'OK, any more constructive criticism you want to give me right now?', said Koizumi while sticking his face closer in his usual, unwelcome way.

'That's an easy one. Back off, you are too close.'

Mr Tamaru said, 'Itsuki, did you plant this guy here for some reason to side with you?'

Koizumi said, 'No, I have never seen this man in my life. Besides, why would I plant someone to side with me? I was never told that my leadership would be challenged.'

Mr Tamaru was stumped. Although I felt that deep down, his intention was well, and he's not trying to remove Koizumi's leader role because of selfish reasons. He finally said, 'OK, does anyone else want to be considered as leader?'

A boy about my age spoke up, 'I could be the leader.'

Mr Tamaru said, 'Are you kidding me?'

The boy said, 'But I have a leader's look.'

Looking closer, I now recognized the boy - that boy was to become the student council president!

Mr Tamaru said, 'Itsuki, remind me why he was recruited again? He's the only person here without the,' he whispered, 'power'. 'Besides, he likes to complain a lot.'

Koizumi said, 'Running the group is not easy. We need an errand boy.'

Errand boy was not amused, 'Don't call me that. Besides, Mr Ono was the one recruited me. He had to see something special in me? Don't get me wrong, you folks are all awesome, I am still amazed by what you guys can do and I want to be part of the group, but I want to do more than walking dogs, watering bonsai, buying coffee, setting up meeting… I don't know if I can go on like this much longer… I may turn nasty or something. I even pick up smoking recently.'

How old was he?

Koizumi said, 'Speaking of meeting, this is not a good spot to meet.'

Errand boy said, 'Sorry... some girl with a flat voice I ran into suggested this time and place...'

A girl with a flat voice? Could Nagato be the one setting this up? Was she also involved in steering the future?

Koizumi said, 'Lady and gentlemen, to be fair, I don't think we need to get tied up with the titles. We share a common goal and we work together and help each other. I would prefer we all consider each other colleagues of the same level.'

'Koiz-' Ms Asahina just stepped in and caught herself saying something she shouldn't be saying. That's probably my cue to leave as well. I got up and said, 'Oh, let's go, sis. Let's go see some Koi fish, like you've been asking.' I turned to the group and said, 'Pardon the interruptions, but it's a pleasure to meet many of you… for the first time… in the organization.' I grabbed Ms Asahina's arm and was about to dash out of the cafe.

'See you later, stranger,' Koizumi said, and smiled.

Ms Asahina and I left the cafe and stood 30 feet away from the entrance. I did not know what were talked about after that, but I suspected Koizumi, with some help from yours truly, found the confidence needed and became the sole leader. They probably also changed their group's name from the 'H-group' to 'The Organization,' since that bunch was terrible with names and couldn't come up with anything better.

'Ms Asahina,' I said, 'Did you know I would run into Koizumi's group? Was that why you left me alone? If you knew, how come you almost said his name?'

'Sorry Kyon, I did not know. I went to speak to Ms Suzumiya. Oh, they are moving.'

Ms Asahina was referring to her younger version and Ms Tsuruya. That's right, our mission officially began. Mission Tailgate. According to Ms Asahina, we should follow from a far distance, as Ms Tsuruya might be loud and carefree, she could pick up the scent of a stalker from a mile - a skill she sharpened being a Tsuruya. I wouldn't doubt that.

On the way to school, I asked, 'Ms Asahina, what did you talk to Haruhi about?'

'Oh. Remember the boy Ms Suzumiya tutored in our time plane? I told Ms Suzumiya I overheard her conversation with her mother and that she's a very good student, and I knew of a boy who's been looking for a tutor. Then I gave her the boy's phone number.'

'In other words, you're ensuring he's getting the academic help he needed so one day he'll be able to build the time machine...'

'I guess so.' She smiled.

We came to a small dirt field which had been used by people to discard trash and old furniture, and I had a strong urge about needing to do something there. It had also become a breeding ground for stray cats, as catnip was growing unchecked. There were two men standing on the field and looked visibly upset.

'We've got to do something about this place so people stop throwing their trash here. It's too narrow and too small to be used as a playground.'

The other man agreed.

Then it hit me why I felt the place was out of place. I told Ms Asahina to go along as I would like to have a word with the men.

It was when I noticed that Ms Asahina was without her disguise.

'Ms Asahina, why are you not wearing your disguise? And how did your hair grow back so fast?' I asked.

She just smiled embarrassingly and said, 'Don't worry about it. There's something I'll have to do. It's alright, it's part of the plan. I'll be heading up first. By the way, Change into your uniform before arriving at the school. See you soon!'

I agreed and she left. I snapped out of it and turned to the men.

I told the men the area would look great for bamboo trees. This would be the bamboo field where Haruhi would likely steal one for Tanabata. The men liked my idea, but they were concerned it would take too long for the bamboo trees to grow. I told them if they could move the trash out in the next hour or so, and find me some bamboo seeds, I would return and help them grow the trees quickly. They were suspicious but they agreed.

I knew exactly where to change uniform. I went to where Haruhi and Koizumi once put on my gym clothes and pretended to be North High students in the alternate timeline, and changed my clothes. I arrived at North High a few minutes after, and since it's a Saturday, it's pretty quiet. In fact, no one was checking uniform... so why was I in uniform?

I could not find Ms Tsuruya nor the two Ms Asahina's. The books I were carrying were screaming pain down my arm again. So I decided I would leave the books for Nagato at the literary club room and went there. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be as the door was locked and there's no way I could get inside. Too bad, as I would love to see what the room looked like before it became our refuge. Refused to make the delivery a complete failure, I pulled out the bookmark with the Sagittarius horoscope design, and slid it under the computer club room's door. Better start programming, you computer nerds... you would need to be on The Day of Sagittarius III by the time the computer club challenged us to a game...

What was I supposed to do next? Where's Ms Asahina? Then I saw Ms Asahina's head as she walked up the stairs, looking lost.

'Ms Asahina!' I called to her.

She looked surprised.

'Where have you been, I-' Her clothes were different. She was the younger version of Ms Asahina, not the one I time-traveled to this time plane with.

'Wh-who are you, an-and… how do you know my name?'

No time for face-palming.


	4. Chapter 4

I realized I was calling out to the wrong Ms Asahina, the younger version that just arrived to this time plane to start her 'time traveling career'. Fortunately I still had my wig, my sunglasses, and my voice was altered.

'Wh-who are you, an-and… how do you know my name?' Cute.

No worries, I was pretty good at cleaning up my own mess these days.

'Oh yes, Ms Tsuruya told me about you, and said you could use some help with enrolling to the school?'

'Ah, yes, I could… I lost her after I went to the restroom. How do you know it's me?'

'Oh she described you well. Orange-brown long hair, big -', I paused. Bad Kyon. Bad Kyon corrected himself, 'eyes. Anyways, I could take you to the office. Follow me. And welcome to North High.'

She calmed down, possibly because I was wearing the school uniform, which gave me credibility that I was from the school. She gave me a bright smile, and said, 'Thank you.' Cute.

We arrived at the office and I spoke to the staff for Ms Asahina. The staff gave her some forms to fill, and Ms Asahina began to work on them.

'Oh no,' she said after a while.

'What?'

'I don't have a home address.'

'Are you looking a place?'

She nodded. I thought for a while and said, 'How about this? I know of a place that's vacant right now. Use that address for now. That will at least get your school application going. Later on, if you check the place out and don't like it, you can always find some place else, and return to the school and update your address.'

'That is a great idea,' she thanked me and I gave her her future home address. This whole thing was pretty cool.

'Oh, by the way, I notice your handwriting. It is very nice. Perhaps you should consider joining the calligraphy club.'

'That is so sweet,' she thanked me again. This was beyond cool. Should I suggest her to put her hair up in a ponytail? Bad, bad, Kyon…. No, I shouldn't.

As soon as Ms Asahina turned in her forms, Ms Tsuruya showed up.

'Oh, Mikuru, there you are!' Ms Tsuruya said, 'When did you change your clothes again?'

'Me?' Ms Asahina looked confused. It dawned to me that Ms Tsuruya was called away by the Ms Asahina that traveled back in time with me, so I could have my alone time helping the younger Ms Asahina. I should probably get moving before Ms Tsuruya started to ask me questions.

'Ms Asahina,' I said, 'Again, good luck at North High. I should be going.'

She bowed and thanked me for my help. I returned the bow. As I were about to leave, Ms Tsuruya said, 'Hey, young man, what's your name?'

Was she… blushing? The younger version of Ms Tsuruya had a crush on the disguised version of me? I definitely had to remember to burn this costume and never to wear it again...

'Oh yes, I am so sorry, I didn't even know your name,' Ms Asahina chimed in.

Neither Ms Tsuruya nor Ms Asahina of this time plane went to North High at this time yet. I should be safe calling me whatever I wanted.

'Yonkyu Watahashi.'

'Tsuruya.' Ms Tsuruya replied.

Ms Asahina looked confused, then said, 'You haven't told Mr Watahashi your name before?'

'No.' Ms Tsuruya said.

She looked at me, growing suspicious. 'But Mr Watahashi said…'

I put my index finger to my lips, smiled and playfully replied, 'Don't worry about the details. It's classified information.'

It's Ms Tsuruya's turn to be confused - by the way, my attempt of being playful turned her off as she gave me an 'eeew' look. Ms Asahina, on the other hand, realized that I was no ordinary person and was there to assist her, smiled, and thanked me again. 'Mr Watahashi, thanks for everything.' She then turned to Ms Tsuruya and said she would like to check out a place to rent. They left, and Ms Asahina from my time plane met up with me, smiling. She's back in her disguise, with short hair.

I said, 'Well, that was surely interesting. Where are we going next?'

'We're going to a shopping center. You should change back into your casual clothes first.'

After I changed my clothes we headed down the hill and we passed by the future bamboo field earlier. The men had been working hard cleaning up the place, and they were waiting for me to return to speed-grow bamboo trees. I asked Ms Asahina if whatever she used to grow her hair quick would work on bamboo trees... fortunately she said yes. I received the bamboo seeds from one of the men, scattered it across the field. Then Ms Asahina just told us to leave the field. A moment later she came out and told us it's done, and the place was blooming with bamboo trees. The men dropped their jaws.

The stray cats were not very happy about losing their home though. I was apologizing to the cats when one particular cat caught my eyes. It's a calico cat.

Ms Asahina was thinking the same thing as I. She said, 'Could that be Shamisen?' She held it up. The calico cat's body shape did not match Shamisen's.

Ms Asahina said, 'Oh, it's a girl, and she's pregnant.'

It looked like we had uprooted the gang. We agreed we should relocate them. I looked down at the books I was carrying. They felt twice as heavy by now. Ms Asahina noticed my suffering and said, 'Let me call a cab.'

She flagged down a cab and explained to the cab driver of our special need. Fortunately the cab driver was a cat lover and he agreed, provided we paid extra for the cleaning fee. The cats refused to come to us even as I rubbed catnip all over myself. I recalled I got a bag of near-expiring snack from the book store - I opened it and incredibly, it smelled like fish, either it was fish or it had gone bad. It took half a second before all the cat eyes were on me. I asked Ms Asahina to sit in the front passenger seat as the cats began to slowly approach me as if they were hunting - next I jumped in the cab as they charged at me. Once all the cats were inside the cab I closed the door. The cab driver suggested a couple locations where the cats could go; one near a swimming pool near where he lived, and one near some apartment complexes nearby. We decided to let the cab driver choose - as long as it did not take too long as I was slowly turning into a worn out scratching board.

After settling down the cats, the cab continued its way to the shopping mall. Ms Asahina gave me some future medicine which helped me heal from the vicious feline attack. The shopping mall turned out to be the infamous mall which we frequented during the movie shoot. Near the entrance there was some anniversary celebration going on, and Ms Asahina told me we should line up for the draw. She said she didn't know why, but she was told it was important…

It's my turn after 20 minutes of wait. I won a palm-sized Gundam model, which were dispensed from one of those twisted egg vending machines. Well, that was totally not worth the wait.

It was Ms Asahina's turn - and she won second prize as people were screaming and jumping. She was given a certificate for a surprise item at the Ohmori electronics store… Ohmori? That sounded familiar.

'So Ms Asahina, we should…' as I turned to look at her, her disguise was gone again, long hair flowing as before. 'Could you warn me before you do this again?'

We arrived at the store, and just as we suspected, this was the store the owner gave Haruhi a camcorder to shoot the movie with. We did not see the owner so I called for the owner.

'Oh,' Ms Asahina was mesmerized by the anime showing on one of the televisions, 'I love this show.'

'Yeah? Me too. Unfortunately there won't be a season 3.'

'What? Why not? In my time, every anime gets made - oops.'

'Really? How? Does anime software get so advanced even a 7-year-old can make a 20-minute anime on a computer in a day?'

'A day if it's super good quality... anyways, I should not say anymore. Although, you may have recalled I mentioned we no longer rely on physical computers.'

I was jealous. I would love to see the rest of the materials animated.

'Hello?' A voice from the back of the store called to us, 'Would you mind coming inside? I'm a bit tied up for the moment...'

We went inside and the place was dim and fully stocked with things. Suddenly I heard a thump as I apparently had knocked something down, but whatever it was fell to the back of a wall of items and I would probably knock down more stuff if I tried to find it… Mr Ohmori approached. Ms Asahina was stumbling a bit but she's okay.

'Sorry about that, I guess I should have known better than asking you to come to the back. Did you see my roll of tape? Never mind, never mind. And don't worry about looking for what you knocked down. It's probably a heater or something which I have plenty of. So, how may I help you?'

Ms Asahina showed him the certificate. To no surprise, Ms Asahina had won a camcorder, the camcorder Haruhi would think she obtained for free due to her excellent convincing skills. I did not feel so bad for the store owner anymore, as he did not get swindled by Haruhi after all.

He congratulated Ms Asahina, but I had a request for him. I told him that Ms Asahina and her friends would be back to claim the prize at a later time. Ms Asahina would be accompanied by a bossy girl and a handsome fellow. The bossy girl would say something gibberish, then point to Ms Asahina, and that would be the cue. He did not understand why, but he agreed. We thanked him and as we stepped out of the store, a young man dressed in suit carrying a briefcase approached me.

'Excuse me, did you drop this?' He asked politely, handing me the Gundam toy I didn't know I dropped.

'Oh, yes, but you can have it. I don't really want it.'

He stared at the toy as if he's got an epiphany or something.

'Excuse me, are you okay?' I asked.

He said, getting emotional, 'This thing is so poorly made…'

'Oh okay, if it insults you, you can throw it away.'

'No, no… you don't understand.' He sniffed, and began to cry. I was ready to grab Ms Asahina by the arm and dashed, but he regained his composure and said, 'I'm sorry. I have just made up my mind. I am going to quit my dead end job, and called it quit with my no good fiance from our pre-arranged marriage. All she cared was me making enough money to marry her. It's since been 5 years! I hated my job! My passion has always been in models and she hates them, and I was forced to give it up… 5 years! Oh my poor Gundam… daddy's back…'

'Perhaps you can use the wedding money for a store selling models? I saw a vacated lot in the mall earlier…'

He thought for a second, then said, 'Yes! That's right! I'll sell respectably made models, not some China-made meltdown plastic junk.'

Like so many meetings in this trip, I knew this meeting was not a coincidence. I told Mr Yamatsuchi that someday my friend Ms Asahina would be back, and I repeated the bossy girl and handsome fellow story to him; if he could spare a couple model guns we would be very grateful. He thanked us again and left.

'Well, Ms Asahina, that has been fun. Where are we -' There she went again, with her disguise and short hair. I knew why she had to switch around, but it really got my head spinning.

'Kyon, let's have dinner. My treat. Our trip is almost over. Bear with me just a little longer, okay?'

'I would never call hanging out with you something I have to bear,' I said.

'There they are!' She said suddenly.

'Who?' I turned and saw Ms Tsuruya and Ms Asahina of the current time plane walking towards us.

'Let's go into that restaurant.' Ms Asahina suggested. She appeared to want to be spotted by Ms Tsuruya and her younger self and led them into the restaurant.

After we sat down I realized the significance of the place. There were 2 girls serving the tables and they were dressed in uniform that looked extremely cute and familiar. The food they served? Yakisoba.

Ms Tsuruya and Ms Asahina of the current time plane came in, and Ms Tsuruya greeted me jokingly with a 'Hello, we meet again. I could be wrong but did I see you at the cafe too? Have you been following us?' The young Ms Asahina thanked me for the help, and said she rented the place I suggested. They noticed I was with 'another girl' who kept her face behind the menu, so they decided to end the conversation (thank goodness), and sat down a couple tables away.

Ms Tsuruya's voice was pretty loud as usual. It's not difficult to hear what she was saying. We heard she commented about the uniform, the food… she also congratulated Ms Asahina for finding a place to live so quickly, and she had enrolled in school.

'Mikuru, I don't know why a girl, don't mind me saying this, a bit of a klutz, will end up moving to this town all by herself. But it means you are brave and adventurous. I like your personality and I feel I have a strong connection with you. We'll get along just fine. I promise I'll take good care of you. Okay?'

'Thank you.' As I heard the two Ms Asahina saying it at the same time, both of them with their heads down, with a drop of joyful tear to shed.

After dinner, we took a cab and headed towards Nagato's apartment, to finally drop off those books. I asked Ms Asahina, 'Just wondering, is leading the younger you and Ms Tsuruya to the Yakisoba so important, that we risked exposing ourselves to them?'

Ms Asahina shook her head, 'Not really. Two years ago I had met you and me in disguise from the future - I just didn't know who they really were at the time, and nothing chaotic happened, so there was no risk. However, I am very grateful to be able to relive the moment when Ms Tsuruya accepted me as her friend. It was very special to me.'

The cab stopped in front of Nagato's apartment. Well, this was awkward. What should I say if I saw her? We took a day sightseeing in this time plane, saw something I thought you would like so I got them for you? Perhaps I should leave the books with the old man manning the building office. I took out one of the bookmarks, and wrote, 'Nagato, please accept this as a gift. Thank you for everything.'

I felt a tap on my right shoulder.

'What is it, Ms Asa -'

'Oh, you know me?' That's not Ms Asahina's voice.

'Asa -' i repeated myself.

'Yes, I'm talking to you.'

'Asakura...'

'Yes. Who are you?'

All the events that happened from the time we arrived to this time plane flashed before my eyes. Up until now everything went rather smoothly. Until now. This one was a bit tougher to get out of.

I looked for Ms Asahina and she was no help. She did not have a clue what to do.

Nagato, my savior time and time again, were you going to bail me out? Please?

'Come now, mister. You are acting very rude. You are blocking the entrance and you are not answering my question. Who are you and how do you know my name?'

No Nagato timely entrance. If she's not showing up, it probably meant she did not have to. I was suddenly confident that I could get myself out of this. Thanks Nagato, you were helpful even if you weren't here!

'Ms Ryuoko Asakura, right? I'm here to deliver these books to you. They were from an admirer of yours.'

'An admirer? Oh, that's nice! What are they?'

Sorry Nagato, it appeared you would not be getting these books from me after all.

'Is this a joke? Why would I be interested in aliens and Science Fiction? Whoever bought these have no idea what I like. I'll have to ask you to return them. And pleaseet me through.'

She probably would like a subscription for a knife magazine. Should I take a risk and trick Asakura into give the books to Nagato?...

The door opened.

'Oh, good evening, Ms Nagato,' Askura said.

So Nagato made her dramatic entrance after all. Calm as always. In her hands she's holding a portable gaming device.

Asakura continued, 'Have you eaten yet? Do you want to me to bring you something?'

Nagato responded, 'I'm not hungry.'

She looked at me.

She looked at Ms Asahina.

She _knew_ who we were.

'What is happening?' She asked Asakura casually.

'These folks are delivering some books to me from a secret admirer, or so I was told. I have no use for them though.'

'May I have them?'

'Sure!' Asakura and I said at the same time.

I handed the books over to Nagato.

I said, 'Thank you.'

She nodded.

Asakura looked at us strangely, but decided to let it go. She said, 'Okay Ms Nagato, I'll be heading up then. See you later.'

I made way for Ms Asakura to pass. The door finally closed and it's just Nagato, Ms Asahina and me.

I let out a big sigh and said, 'Boy, that was close.' Somehow, she knew I needed rescuing, as always.

'Nagato, did you arrange Koizumi's organization to meet me at the cafe?'

She paused for a while, then said, 'I have been monitoring activities of Haruhi Suzumiya and many people involved with her on a daily basis. When you and Mikuru Asahina came to my place on Tanabata last year, I included the two of you to my watch list. Last night I detected the two of you time traveled to this time so I deduced you were here to enforce the path to the future. I knew Itsuki Koizumi's group was planning to meet today, so I deduced that you would need to meet them. I sought out the person who did the planning early in the morning and suggested the meeting place and time - the cafe where Haruhi Suzumiya had an appointment with a boy, for I deduced that you would be meeting Haruhi Suzumiya there as well.'

I was in awe with her response. Plus who would have thought Haruhi's two-minute date with Tanaguchi would turn out to be significant in some way? I truly wondered if there's anything Nagato didn't know.

That's when I had a very strange idea. This Nagato did not something I knew - she did not know about the endless Summer - should I tell her so to help us break out of it sooner? 600 years of Summer vacation would drive anyone crazy... no one deserved that, even if it was swimming, going to festival... I could say something here...

'Nagato,' I started.

But telling her about it could change the future - the future could be drastically different from the one we knew. Without Nagato changing the world, Nagato would not evolve to be more human, and I would not learn to appreciate Haruhi's world. Furthermore, I would lose Ms Asahina's trust. And what would Nagato think? Despite my good intention, she probably would also lose her trust in me. I felt I was failing Nagato whether I chose to say something or I chose not to.

'Nothing. I'm sorry,' I whispered.

Nagato turned, walked into the building and the door closed.

'Let's go home,' Ms Asahina said.

'Yes. Let's do. Do we leave here?'

She looked around and said, 'Yes, we could.'

As Ms Asahina was preparing, I removed the wig and the sunglasses. What should I do with them? Then the answer presented itself.

'Ms Asahina, what's that under your left shoe?'

There's a bit of a tape sticking out under her left shoe. It came from Mr Ohmori's store room. I helped Ms Asahina and pulled the tape off. It looked like the tape that taped the sunglasses to the wig when they were thrown into my face a day ago. Then that's what I did - I taped the sunglasses to the wig, and held the wig upside down in my left hand.

Ms Asahina asked, 'What are you planning to do with it?'

I smiled, 'I don't know, but somehow I have a feeling it would find its way to my past self.' I closed my eyes and said, 'Ms Asahina, I'm ready when you are.'

'Okay, although I once read about time travel littering... it's strongly discouraged.'

'Maybe I am assuming too much. Could you swing by the Friday morning so I can throw this at myself in that time plane?'

I gave her my best estimates of the time and location.

Ms Asahina then said, 'I can slow down the time jump when we are near the time and place and you can try.'

I was stupid because I forgot when I was time traveling my head spun, even holding my bladder was troublesome enough. When Ms Asahina called out to me and said, 'Now,' all I could think of was to lie down and let me die. I forced myself to open my eyes and I found myself floating in mid-air. I could see my past self 100 feet away on the other side of the street. I threw the wig anyways - and it passed through a barrier and dropped straight on the ground. Mission failed?

My eyes began to close - then I saw someone with purple hair beneath me picked up the wig. A motorcycle went past the person and with precise timing and accuracy, the person threw the wig at the other me, straight on to my face, causing the other me to panick. The spinning sped up again and shortly after I was on the ground - back to my time, in the literary club room. It was a minute past the time we left. I sensed something was not right but luckily Ms Asahina was quicker at identifyin it.

'Oh goodness Kyon, I am so sorry, I messed up, we didn't leave from the literary club room, we left from outside your house! The extra stop got me confused.'

I told her it was no big deal. The only worry was we might have to climb the fence to get out of the school. I asked Ms Asahina would need my help with it and she shyly said no. I told her I needed a little more time to shake off the motion sickness and I would locked the door. She thanked me for accompanying her on the trip, and she left.

As I sat there, staring at the ceiling, I thought about the trip - the whole experience. I felt happy but there was also sadness. To call the experience 'fun' did not give it justice. Instead, I would say that the experience was totally worthwhile, and I was truly grateful. I looked at the book shelf, and immediately I spotted the books I bought. Yes, it was totally worth it.

I exited the literary club room, locked the door behind me.

THE END


End file.
